I think it is hard to imagine just how bad the NHS is. But A&E is just as it is portrayed.
You have to see it to believe it; people propped up in chairs, doped up if they seem pushy, often in pain if not. Consultations done in front of everyone, zero privacy. You could be there for days if you could manage it; and even then there are a team of doctors looking to discharge saying that people would get urgent appointments. That was an effective lie; a lot of people were in A&E because they had been waiting for these appointments that had not come, and they were very ill. The frontline staff were tying hard but there were just too many people, and too many had just not been seen by hospitals as out patients. There were also a lot of diabetes patients and older patients who were not emergencies but they needed care. Presumably they were not getting it on time but the effect is dire. It is not just about resources but people not being sent to A&E. Actual emergency treatment is being missed; one patient had been admitted for a stroke, did not see a doctor. He had a stroke on the floor of A&E while a pushier diabetes patient was seen. There are massive problems on management and assessing clinical need. It is not the staff, but they need a lot of help to manage the huge numbers of people who could wait for those who really can’t.